SB 2237: Bettencourt Severance Bill Caps Only Tax-Funded Payouts At 20 Weeks

Caption

relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision employees.

Summary

Capped if paid from “tax revenue.” Paid from fees or other public money? No cap.

The bill caps severance pay for top local government executives, such as city and county chief executives, department heads, school superintendents and charter school chiefs, at 20 weeks of pay when the money comes from tax revenue, and bans severance entirely when the executive is fired for misconduct. Every political subdivision that signs or renews a contract with severance terms for these executives must write in those limits and post each severance agreement on its website. Courts cannot force payment of a severance judgment that breaks these rules, and the limits apply only to contracts signed and lawsuits filed on or after September 1, 2025.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB2237 · 2025-03-11

SOLD BY

Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

ITEM

relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision employees.

WHAT IT DOES

Capped if paid from “tax revenue.” Paid from fees or other public money? No cap.

The bill caps severance pay for top local government executives, such as city and county chief executives, department heads, school superintendents and charter school chiefs, at 20 weeks of pay when the money comes from tax revenue, and bans severance entirely when the executive is fired for misconduct. Every political subdivision that signs or renews a contract with severance terms for these executives must write in those limits and post each severance agreement on its website. Courts cannot force payment of a severance judgment that breaks these rules, and the limits apply only to contracts signed and lawsuits filed on or after September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[x] THE HOLEanalysis confidence 45%

THE TEXT

“a requirement that severance pay that is paid from tax revenue may not exceed the amount of compensation”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The committee statement promises to limit severance paid from public funds, but the 20-week cap reaches only severance paid from tax revenue. Severance paid from other public money, such as fees or other non-tax revenue, is not capped by this text.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 28, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Mar 11, 2025Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Mar 11, 2025Filed
Mar 25, 2025Read first time
Mar 25, 2025Referred to Local Government
Mar 31, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 31, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 31, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Mar 31, 2025Left pending in committee
Apr 3, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 3, 2025Vote taken in committee
Apr 7, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendments
Apr 7, 2025Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
Apr 7, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Apr 16, 2025Placed on local & uncontested calendar
Apr 16, 2025Laid before the Senate
Apr 16, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Apr 16, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Apr 16, 2025Three day rule suspended
Apr 16, 2025Record vote
Apr 16, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 16, 2025Passed
Apr 16, 2025Record vote
Apr 16, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 17, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 22, 2025Read first time
Apr 22, 2025Referred to Intergovernmental Affairs
Apr 28, 2025Considered in formal meeting
Apr 28, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
May 9, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 9, 2025Committee report distributed
May 10, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
May 19, 2025Considered in Calendars
May 21, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
May 22, 2025Read 2nd time
May 22, 2025Passed to 3rd reading
May 22, 2025Record vote RV#3250
May 22, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 23, 2025Read 3rd time
May 23, 2025Passed
May 23, 2025Record vote RV#3330
May 23, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 23, 2025House passage reported
May 23, 2025Reported enrolled
May 26, 2025Signed in the Senate
May 26, 2025Signed in the House
May 27, 2025Sent to the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Signed by the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Effective on 9/1/25

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 117 yea · 20 nay

Senate · 30 yea · 1 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 23, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Apr 16, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Paul Bettencourt

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Paul Bettencourt.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

Votes5

House May 23, 2025

Yea: 117
Nay: 20
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 4
Excused: 7

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3330

SB 2237 was passed by (Record 3330): 117 Yeas, 20 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 117 (published)
Nay: 20 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
Excused: 7 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 22, 2025

Yea: 124
Nay: 13
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 1
Excused: 10

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3250

SB 2237 was passed to third reading by (Record 3250): 124 Yeas, 13 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 124 (published)
Nay: 13 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
Excused: 10 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 16, 2025

Final passage

Yea: 30
Nay: 1
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

EckhardtNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records final passage. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

SB 2237 (Bettencourt) Relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision employees. (viva voce vote) (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 1 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 16, 2025

Suspension of the three-day rule

Yea: 30
Nay: 1
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

EckhardtNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records suspension of the three-day rule. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

SB 2237 (Bettencourt) Relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision employees. (viva voce vote) (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 1 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 16, 2025

Passage to engrossment

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records passage to engrossment. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

SB 2237 (Bettencourt) Relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision employees. (viva voce vote) (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt (30-1) "Nay" Eckhardt

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses7

For: 3
Against: 3
On: 1

Names

For

Self1 registration
Texas Classroom Teachers Association1 registration
Texas Public Policy Foundation1 registration

Against

Self; Mayor, Lakeway Texas1 registration
Texas Association of Community Schools1 registration
Texas Association of School Administrators1 registration

On

Teaching hospitals of texas1 registration

Sources

7 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 28, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Mar 11, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report · Enrolled

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 6:51 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Companion

HB 4317 by Bell, Cecil (identical)

Subjects

City Government--Employees/Officers

County Government--Employees/Officers

Political Subdivisions

Text

The text as introduced · 409 words

89R8420 DNC-D

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 2237

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to severance pay for certain political subdivision

employees.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 180, Local Government Code, is amended

by adding Section 180.011 to read as follows:

Sec. 180.011. LIMITATION ON SEVERANCE PAY FOR EXECUTIVE

EMPLOYEES. (a) In this section:

(1) "Misconduct" means an act or omission by an

employee of a political subdivision in the performance of the

employee's duties that the governing body of the political

subdivision determines to be misconduct. The term includes any

finding of criminal conduct.

(2) "Severance pay" means dismissal or separation

income paid on termination of the employment of an employee that is

in addition to the employee's usual earnings from the employer at

the time of termination.

(b) A person is an executive employee of a political

subdivision for purposes of this section if the person is:

(1) a chief executive officer of a political

subdivision other than a school district;

(2) an agency or department head; or

(3) the superintendent of a school district or the

chief executive officer of an open-enrollment charter school.

(c) A political subdivision that enters into an employment

agreement, or renewal or renegotiation of an existing employment

agreement, that contains a provision for severance pay with an

executive employee must include:

(1) a requirement that severance pay that is paid from

tax revenue may not exceed the amount of compensation, at the rate

at the termination of employment, the executive employee would have

been paid for 20 weeks, excluding paid time off or accrued vacation

leave; and

(2) a prohibition of the provision of severance pay

when the executive employee is terminated for misconduct.

(d) A political subdivision shall post each severance

agreement in a prominent place on the political subdivision's

Internet website.

(e) This subsection applies to an action brought against a

political subdivision by an executive employee of the political

subdivision arising from the termination of the person's

employment. A court may not issue a writ of execution or mandamus

in connection with a judgment in the action if the judgment does not

comply with this section.

SECTION 2. Section 180.011, Local Government Code, as added

by this Act, applies only to an employment agreement entered into or

an action filed on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: Smells

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

House May 23, 2025

House May 22, 2025

Senate Apr 16, 2025

Senate Apr 16, 2025

Senate Apr 16, 2025

For

Against

On

Companion